


An Ocean of Memories

by JJBashir



Series: My Heart Will Go On [2]
Category: seaQuest
Genre: Between Seasons/Series, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Missing Persons, Missing in Action, angst so much angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:00:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23724952
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JJBashir/pseuds/JJBashir
Summary: After the memorial service, Linn and company find themselves at home, reliving memories of those not with them.
Relationships: Katherine Hitchcock/Benjamin Krieg, Tim O'Neill/ Aislinn MacMurdo, Tim O'Neill/Original Female Character(s)
Series: My Heart Will Go On [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1708750
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	An Ocean of Memories

**Author's Note:**

> In the main series ([The Aislinn MacMurdo Chronicles](https://archiveofourown.org/series/60416)), later stories mention a home that Lt. Tim O'Neill and Lt. Aislinn MacMurdo live in. This is the story of that house.

_Poseidon's Point_

It was about four in the afternoon when Katie, Ben, Kristin and Linn finally made it back to Cape New Quest. Ben insisted on driving them back to the small house twenty miles outside of the city, on a small bluff just overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The six gabled, two story house was laid out almost like a boat, her 'bow', the living room, pointed towards the open sea. The garage was the 'stern' and Ben pulled the green 97 Jaguar into the driveway. "Last stop-the Point," he intoned. "Please take all personal belonging with you, and thank you for flying 'Air Kreig'."

Katie Hitchcock shook her head, as she opened the door. "Tacky, Ben," she chided from the back seat.

He smiled gently. "But ain't that why you love me so much?" he teased, waiting for the usual mock punch to the jaw.

Katie's eyes softened, and she stroked his cheek instead. "Yeah," she whispered, her voice thick with tears.

Ben nodded gravely. "How's she doin'?' he asked.

"Still sleeping," Katie said, her arm still around her best friend's shoulder. Linn MacMurdo had had a busy day today.

Linn had spoken at the National Cathedral in Washington, at the memorial service for the seaQuest. It had taken a lot out of all of them. The flight back to Florida was spent in quiet reflection, and Linnie had fallen asleep right after they had driven off the base. Ben turned to look at his friend, amazed that the sorrow she wore in waking was still there, softened, but present. He reached back to brush a wisp of her dark brown hair away from her girlish face.

She stirred for a moment, and her eyes opened. "Tim?" she mumbled sleepily.

Ben wanted to cry. "Ah--no, sweetheart," he whispered, "it's me, Ben."

Linn sighed, then nodded herself awake. "I was having the loveliest dream, Ben," she said sadly.

Ben fought the catch in his throat. "Well, how about you close your eyes and go back to sleep, kiddo," he said. "If you hurry, I'm sure you can catch it again."

She didn't even argue. She nodded her head again and closed her eyes, laying her head on Katie's chest like a child, and promptly fell back asleep.

Kristin was weeping silently in the seat next to Ben. "Oh God," she choked out. "I don't know how much more I can stand."

Katie grasped her shoulder.

"I'll take care of Linn, Katie," he said, sliding out of the front seat. "We can get the bags later."

Katie nodded, then got out to help Kristin to the front door.

Ben slid into the back seat, and very gently, lifted Linn out and carried her to the house. Ben chuckled as he walked up the path to the house, lined with crushed stones and shells, collected from the shores of the Firth of Forth, in Scotland. This wasn't just an ordinary house. This was the Point. Poseidon's Point. The place that had become a home for not just Linn, but ALL the members of the seaQuest, old and new. So much had happened in the year that Linn and Tim O'Neill had decided to make this old house their home. He carried Linn up the bedroom, and pulled back the covers. He laid her in the bed, pulled of her boots, took her uniform jacket off, and covered her up. "Dream well, sweetie," he whispered as he turned out the light.

_**The Search** _

_"Whatta mean, you SOLD Hay's Haven?" Tim asked incredulously._

_He and Aislinn were walking along a stretch of beach they had found a couple of weeks before. It was their day off, and they wanted to be as far away from anything that LOOKED like a submarine for a few hours. The construction was going well. The keel had been laid last month, and by all estimates, the new seaQuest would be completed a year from now. Tim and Linn had been lucky enough to be requested to stay on to help Captain Bridger and Commander Ford with the reconstruction, and Tim was doing translation work at UEO headquarters, while Linn was moonlighting as a French tutor at the local high school._

_"Tim, I haven't lived in Scotland for a year," she said, swinging their joined hands, "and since I switched my citizenship from Oceania to the UEO--I don't think I ever will." She smiled. "I still have the flat in Edinburgh, and I stay at Carl's more than I stayed in that stuffy old relic, anyhow." She smiled. "Besides, there's somethin' I want to show you."_

_Tim laughed. "I should have known there was a catch to this trip," he said. He followed her up the beach, as they reached a small bluff that stretched out into the ocean about thirty feet or so._

_At the point where the bluff connected to the mainland, there was a large, old house. Tim looked up at it. The shutters were drooping off the windows, many of which were broken. The roof had a few holes in it, and there were several bird nests set in the joints between three of the six gables. "It--oh man, it looks like a boat!" he exclaimed. He pointed to the bay windows facing the sea. "Look, there's the bow!"_

_Linn smiled. "Wait till you see the INSIDE," she said._

_He looked at her dubiously. "You sure it's safe?" he asked._

_"Och, Tim, come ON, already!"_

_The house was far sturdier that it looked on the outside. The lower half of the house was in excellent shape...except for the dust, of course. The living room took up the whole front of the house, and there was one hole in the roof that filled the room with the warm glow of the Florida sun. "Hey," Tim said, pointing up at it. "Sky light."_

_Linn nodded, chuckling._

_They looked through the rest of the house. There were three bedrooms upstairs, a huge bathroom, and an enormous kitchen and dining room connecting to the living room. The garage was at the 'stern' of the house, and it was large enough to easily fit Linn's Jag and Tim's restored '71 Impala, with plenty of room to spare._

_"Linnie, this is a great house!" he said after they had been exploring. They were sitting in the 'back' yard, which was a ratty expanse of crabgrass, that extended out to the road. There were no other houses on the road, which lead up nearly half a mile from the next main road._

_"Isn't though?' she said. "It found me, actually. I was taking a walk along the other side of the beach when I found it. Tim," she said seriously. "What would you say if I told you I wanted to buy this house?"_

_Tim was dumbstruck. "BUY?" He looked at her. "You mean, outright BUY the house?"_

_"It would be a stretch, even with the money I got from the sale of the Haven," she said, "but, to have somewhere to come HOME to, wouldn't it be nice?"_

_Tim sputtered for a moment. "How much IS this place?"_

_"Four-hundred."_

_"THOUSAND!?"_

_She nodded sadly. "I've got enough for the down payment, and to fix the roof, and maybe some new windows. The mortgage is going to be hell, but--Oh, Tim," she said, "I really want this house."_

_Tim looked at her. He had been thinking about buying a house too, maybe somewhere near Lake Michigan, with a dock and lots of trees and FAR away from UEO headquarters. Where's LINN going to be the happiest, Tim? that little guiding voice in his head asked him._

_Tim sighed. "Well," he said. "How much do you have, right now?"_

_Linn though for a moment. "Three hundred thousand pounds--which is about....two hundred and fifty thousand dollars."_

_Tim stroked his chin. "So, if I add the money from my mutual fund..."_

_Linn looked at him. "What mutual fund?"_

_Tim grinned sheepishly. "The one I opened when I joined the Navy. I put about six hundred dollars a month in it now..."_

_"Six HUNDRED?" she asked._

_He shrugged. "I live on a sub," he said. "Where am I gonna spend it? Anyway, I think I've got about two hundred thou or so I can shake loose," he grinned._

_Her eyes opened wide._

_"Well, we WERE planning to live here AFTER we got married, right?" he asked archly._

_She nodded, not trusting herself to speak._

_"So, the way I see it," he said, putting an arm around her shoulders, " it's a good investment of my money to get the house NOW. That way, we can spend more on the honeymoon LATER."_

_She looked at him. "You mean," she said slowly, "you WANT to help me buy my house?"_

_Tim shook his head. "No. I want to help you buy OUR house."_

_She stared at him for a long moment, then threw her arms around his neck. "Oh TIM!" she cried in joy. "You mean it!?"_

_He laughed and caught himself before he went tumbling backwards. "So, you happy?" he said. "Just a little?"_

_She smiled, her face streaked with tears. "Is water wet?" she asked, then laughed. She put her arms around his waist, looking at the house. "She's a grand old house, isn't she, Tim?"_

_"Oh, here we go," Tim groaned, "anthropomorphizing the house already."_

_"I'm a Celt, Tim," she said, "I've GOT to name the house. Besides, it's bad luck for a sailor to live in a house with no name."_

_"Some obscure thing the Admiral came up with?"_

_She grinned. "No. I made it up myself."_

_He laughed. "OK, OK, we'll name the house. AFTER we clean it--"_

_"HER."_

_OK, HER. After we clean HER up," Tim laughed. "I love you, by the way."_

_**The Clean-up** _

_"They couldn't build a nice NEW house?" Ben Kreig was complaining from the roof. "No. Of COURSE not. The love birds had to get this decrepit old JALOPY of a house..."_

_"Stop bitching and hammer, Kreig," Jonathan Ford growled._

_When Linn and Tim had told their friends where they were heading every weekend and they had finally seen their old 'fixer-upper', they had all volunteered to help clean the place up. The crew of the seaQuest was actually a fair construction crew. Ford and Kreig had drawn roof duty this hot June day. Katie Hitchcock, Miguel Ortiz and Lucas Wolenczak were redoing the house's wiring system. Chief Crocker and Will Shan were in the 'back' yard, laying down grass seed and planting trees, and Nathan Bridger and Kristin Westphalen were showing off their carpentry skills by building a cabinet 'island' in the huge kitchen. Linn and Tim's jobs were two-fold: get supplies and kept their makeshift crew fed, watered and happy._

_Tim drove up in his gold '71 Chevy Impala that his mom and sisters had brought down from Michigan three weeks ago. It was great to be driving his baby again, even if his sisters were bummed about losing the coolest ride in East Lansing._

_"Explain to me again how a junior lieutenant can own such a great set of wheels?" Kreig yelled down from the roof._

_"I don't waste my cash on schemes, booze and girlie magazines." Tim called up._

_"No...you waste it on old money traps like this house!" Kreig shot back._

_"Enough, Ben," Jonathan said. "Don't tick the man who buys our lunch off."_

_"That WAS a alfalfa sprout salad you wanted, right, Ben?" Tim called up archly. He walked over to Linn, who was happily sitting on what was to become their lawn, scattering seeds in a newly created flower bed._

_"I figure I'd put the annuals in first, before I planted the primroses," she said turning her cheek up._

_He planted a kiss on her cheek. "Whatever you think best, sweetheart," he said. "Oh, your rosebushes are in the back seat."_

_"Thank you, love," she said, as he walked in the front door of the house._

_"Hey guys," he called out, "Lunch's on!"_

_"WooHOO! Lunchtime!" Miguel whooped as he slid down the bannister._

_"Is food ALL you think about, Mig?" Katie asked, walking down the stairs._

_"Nah," said Lucas. "SOMETIMES, he thinks about girls, too."_

_The rule in the house was simple--no ranks, no titles no airs. This place was going to be a getaway from the very start, Linn had decided. And Tim wasn't about to argue with the lady of the house._

_They had made great time. The roof was nearly done--just a few more shingles and it would be ready to go. The hole in the roof above the living room had been expanded and, as Tim predicted, a domed skylight was placed in it, bathing the whole lower floor in a golden glow. The old tile had been pulled up, revealing a beautiful old wood plank flooring that Tim had fallen in love with. He had spent two weeks getting rid of the glue, and refinishing and polyurethaning it, and the oak floor underneath was stunning. All the windows had been replaced, and all the plumbing was newly fitted._

_The upstairs bathroom had been completely redone, with a huge old fashion hotel tub and shower, complete with feet, that Ben had seen in an old junkyard, the showpiece of the room. He had re-enameled it himself, and tiled the floor in pristine white porcelain. The room looked like an old bathroom from the forties, down to the brass fixtures and the pattern in the tiling._

_"How's my house?" Linn asked over lunch. It was a tradition now, reporting on how much they had gotten done._

_"The wiring's done, Linn," Katie reported. "We should be ready to put the plasterboard back on the walls by next weekend._

_"Ditto the kitchen," Nathan said. "Kristin's putting the finishing touches on the cabinets."_

_"I stopped by the store on the way back," Tim said. "They'll have the stove out by next weekend." They had decided on a natural gas stove, to add to the hominess of the place._

_"The roof is done, fin-e, fait accompli," Ben said. "And in record time, I may add," he said taking a bite out of his sandwich. "The Commander here swings a mean hammer," he mumbled around a mouthful of corned 'beef' and rye. Then his eyes opened wider as they all gave him a look. "What? WHAT?"_

_Linn pointed to the jar sitting on the ledge of the bay window. "Fork it over, Ben," she ordered._

_"What?" he asked._

_"WHO was on the roof with you, again?" Katie asked._

_"Commander--I mean Jonathan, JONATHAN!!" he yelped._

_"I think that was twice," Will said. "Right Tim?"_

_"Double dipping, Ben?" Tim shook his head. "For shame."_

_The jar on the ledge of the was labeled, 'RANK JAR'. Anyone that used a rank, had to cough up five dollars. Chief Crocker was the one who had paid up the most, with his ' But, Capt'n' his biggest offense. Ben was usually the one who had to pay for multiple offenses and getting him to do so was more fun than the actual offense. The money was going toward the housewarming party, and by the looks of the thing, it was going to be HUGE._

_"I am NOT putting ten bucks in, O'Neill," Ben was saying. "I didn't CALL him Commander. I just stated his rank--"_

_"Be a man, and pay the jar, Ben," Lucas said._

_Linn held the jar out and shook it._

_Ben grumbled. "I am doing this," he said as he shoved the ten dollar bill into the glass jar, "under EXTREME duress."_

_" 'Cause he know we'll kick his ass if he doesn't," Nathan said._

_They all laughed long and hard._

_"OK, OK, OK you squids, back to work!" Linn said, taking a last sip of lemonade. "We've got a house t'finish, don't ye know."_

_**The Naming** _

_By the end of September, just as the trade winds were changing, the final touches of the house were finished. The last Sunday of September saw the electricity and water turned on and not a short or a leaky faucet was to be found. The last three weekends were spent cleaning the house from top to bottom, and everything shone with good, old fashioned Navy spit shine and elbow grease. The grass in the backyard was lush and green, a low water variety to boot. The zinnias and black-eyed Susans were beginning to droop, though the primroses were healthy and lush, their amber petals beginning to open as the group looked over their handiwork in the late September evening._

_Tim stood with his arm around Linn's shoulders. "Not bad for an old money trap, huh?" he said, winking at Ben. They were all standing on the gravel walkway of the house. The gravel was colored a pale pink, from shells that Linn's grandfather had sent from Scotland. "I thought you could do something with all the shells you brought home as a lass," the note had read. Linn had laughed, but it was Nathan that had suggested breaking them up to lay along the path. "That way, you can walk on a piece of the old home to get to the new one," he had said._

_"So," Katie asked. "What you gonna call it?"_

_"You had to bring it up, didn't you, Katie?" Tim said._

_"Oh, come along now, Tim," Krisitin said, her arm around Nathan's waist. "A house this beautiful's GOT to have a NAME."_

_"How about 'Land's End'?" Ben said, waving his hand across the air._

_Katie looked at him. "It's a house, Ben, not a sweater."_

_Jonathan laughed. "How about 'Sailors' Haven'?"_

_Tim and Aislinn both shook their head. "NO Havens," they said in unison._

_"East Point?" Will offered._

_"Like the Academy?" Crocker said._

_"Wrong Academy," Nathan said. "You'd might as well name it Annapolis."_

_"It should have something to do with the sea," Mig insisted._

_"Neptune, or Trident something or the other," Lucas said._

_Linn looked at Tim, and Tim looked at Linn. "Poseidon," they said, in one of the rare times their minds were linked._

_"Huh?" Lucas said._

_"You said 'Neptune' before," Tim said._

_"Yeah, the God of the Sea," Lucas agreed._

_"The ROMAN god of the sea," Linn clarified. "In Greek, he was called Poseidon."_

_"Hey, Tim," Mig said, "wasn't one of you ancestors or something supposed to be under the protection of Poseidon?"_

_"That's right!" he exclaimed, snapping his fingers. "I almost forgot that story my grandmother told us that one time."_

_"Poseidon's--Poseidon's Point," Linn said. When they all looked at her, she defended her suggestion with, "Well, doesn't it look like he could just come waltzing up the bluff, to sit and watch the sea for a while?" she demanded._

_They all looked out at the bluff, seeing the picture she had painted in their own minds._

_"I like it," Will said. "It's a great name, Linnie."_

_"Poseidon's Point, huh?" Ben said. "Catchy."_

_"Well?" Linn demanded of Tim._

_He was still looking out at the sun, sinking slowly below the horizon and bathing the house, his--THEIR house--their Point, in crimson and gold._

_He smiled. "It's a beautiful name," he said. "I love it. And you," he added, kissing her lightly._

_"Then it's settled," she said as the sun slipped below the horizon. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome...to Poseidon's Point."_

**_Back to the Point_ **

Linn's eyes opened to find the room dark. She half expected to see Tim standing at the window, staring at the moonlight. It was something he did often, and Linn would watch him watch, loving the way the silver light played along his pale skin, as he watched the moon play off the sea.

But, there was no Tim to watch now. She sat up, realizing where--WHEN--she was. She didn't remember coming to bed, or taking off her boots and jacket. _One of the others_ , she thought to herself. She went into the bathroom, used the facilities, then changed out of the rest of her uniform into her nightgown. She reached for her robe--then stopped. And pulled Tim's off its hook instead. The white terrycloth robe engulfed her, both its mass, and the deep, masculine scent she always identified as 'Tim'. She pulled the collar close to her face with both hands and took a deep breath. "Oh Tim," she whispered, "oh, I miss you so."

She pulled her slippers from the closet, and as she walked down the hall to the stairwell, there wasn't a inch that didn't remind her of her missing lover. The floors that Tim had slaved over for weeks. The Gaugin prints in the hallway. Tim's own portrait of Aislinn at the end of the hall, the one he called 'Dream in Sealight'.

But, as she walked down the stairs, running her hand along the bannister, she saw all the others too. Jonathan, peeking through the holes in the roof. Lucas, his blonde hair speckled with plaster and paint. Nathan, gently planing the steps of the stairs smooth, his brown eyes serious and intent. Miguel sliding down the bannister for the first time, nearly breaking his nose when he fell off. Tony and Jim, playing poker in the living room. Wendy, drinking tea at the bay window, looking out at the sea. Lonnie, screaming out the bathroom door not to flush to downstairs toilet, or SOMEbody was going to die. Dagwood...gentle Dagwood, slowly picking flowers to put on the kitchen table, a daisy stuck in his collar. They were all here, with her.

She had though about selling the Point--she shook her head. She hadn't been able to call the house by name in months. Katie and Ben were relocating to California, where Katie was being offered her own command. Kristin and Malcolm were in the Carribean. They had all stayed close the past few months, but their lives were moving forward, and so must hers. But this house...THEIR house, would stay a part of it. She couldn't abandon it, no more than she could abandon the hope in her heart that her friends were still alive.

"Hey, lady," she heard in the darkened living room. Katie met her at the foot of the stairs. "I was just coming to check on you."

"Kristin still here?" Linn asked.

Katie nodded. "She went for a walk on the beach." Linn walked of the last stair and they went to sit in the ledge of the bay windows.

"I'm--I'm not going to sell the house, Katie," Linn said.

"Good," Katie said. At her friend's shocked look, she explained, "I didn't think you would go through with it...not after today, anyway."

Linn nodded. "They're ALL here, Katie. Not just Tim. Mig, and Jono, and Luke and Wendy and Nathan--all of them," she said. "I know some people would say I'm trying to live in the past, but--it's like they took a tiny part of themselves, and planted it here."

Katie took her best friend's hands in her own. "The Point wasn't just home for you and Tim," she said. "You made it a home for us ALL, Linnie. A home better that anything else we'd ever known, 'cause we all built a little part of it. That's why we're all here in it. You'll never really be alone here. Not as long as you hold on to those parts of us we left here."

Linn gave Katie a small smile. Then her eyes filled with tears. "Och, Katie," she said. "Katie, what am I going to DO?" she wailed, throwing her arms around Katie. "I miss him so much."

"You've got me and Ben, Linnie," Katie said, rocking her weeping friend in her arms. "I could always use a good comm officer out in the Pacific."

Linn shook her head. "No, Kate," she said. "I can't go back to sea. Not yet. It's--it's too soon."

Katie nodded. "How about you rent me and Ben the house, until we go to California?" she suggested. "You could go up to Michigan, spend some time with Tim's mom and the twins? They miss you too, I'm sure."

Linn nodded, and sniffed. "Yeah," she said absently. "Maybe I will."

Katie took Linn by the shoulder. "They ARE coming home, Linn. I KNOW they are. Don't give up on them now, after everything you've been through."

Linn shook her head. "I'm just so tired, Katie," she sighed.

"That's why you have us," Linn heard from the doorway. She looked up, to find Ben, walking towards her, a steaming mug in his hands. He gave it to her, and she sipped at it, letting the hot tea warm her. "You don't HAVE to go this alone, kid," he said. "Me and Katie...we'll always be here when you need us."

Linn looked up, a sad smile on her face. "Do ye mind if I DON'T hold you to that right now, Ben?" she asked. "My faith's a wee bit shot."

"Sure, Linn," he said, the words sinking in. "I'm sorry, I shoulda thought before--"

"It's not your fault, Ben," she said. "It's nobody fault."

"Did I miss something?" Kristin said as she entered the room.

"No," Katie said. "We were just remembering."

"How we patched this place up?" Kristin asked.

"PATCHED?" Ben snorted. "Try REBUILT, Kristin. Rebuilt. Hey, how come I always got stuck on the roof?" he whined.

"Because to let you near anything else would be begging for disaster," Katie said. "At least if you were thirty feet off the ground, you'd be worried enough about breaking your neck to stay out of trouble."

Kristin laughed, and lay a hand on Linn's shoulder, as they remembered the stubbed toes, and the broken nails and the splinters and the laughter that had gone into making his house their home.

_Remember,_ Linn heard in the distance. It was Lucas' voice, she swore. *Remember us.... An ocean of memories flooded the Point at that moment, and for just an instant, Linn could see them, see them all sitting here with the four of them. _You are safe in our hearts, Linn,_ she heard Nathan say to her.

_And our hearts will go on and on,_ Tim said, blowing a gentle kiss at her.

"Did you feel that?" Kristin asked, touching her cheek.

"That warm breeze?" Katie asked.

"All the windows are closed," Ben said.

"Maybe I left the door open," Kristin said.

"No," Linn said. "It was--it was them."

"Them?" Ben asked.

They all turned their heads, and they too, saw what looked like a faint glow. Then it was gone.

"Aye," Linn said. "THEM."

"Do you think they heard us?" Kristin said, a tear slipping down her cheek.

Linn held the hand Kristin had laid on her shoulder, still staring at the spot in the floor where the golden glow had been. "Aye, Kristin," she said, resting her cheek against their joined hands. "I'm sure of it."

**Author's Note:**

> Katie Hitchcock, Ben Krieg, Kristen Westphalen, Will Shan, Tim O'Neill, Lucas Wolenczak, Nathan Bridger, Jonathan Ford and all the other members of the seaQuest were created by Rockne O'Bannon, and are property of Amblin Television. Aislinn MacMurdo is an original creation.


End file.
